Considering an RS4, question about performance

I have gone through plenty of cars so far in my life.. however I usually have 1 sportscar and 1 daily driver (31 and not married).. Right now I have a 03 v8 Lotus Esprit (at 450hp/430TQ) and a Audi TT (modded to 265 hp)...

I want to keep my esprit for at least a few more years but was considering upgrading to the RS4.. I take both my cars to the track...

The RS4 is great looking, and well designed but I am a bit upset at it's QM acceleration numbers, for a car that costs only 10-15k less than an M5 I am seeing most magazines score over 13.0 in the QM test.. while the M5 can do it in 12.5.. I was considering the M5 but the outer design if very unappealing to me.. I am trying to have it grow on me but.. just tough to do that..

I also live in philly and the weather could be a little more AWD friendly for a DD..

My question is how is the car on the track and do you think (besides the weight) that it is achieving 13.0+ on most QM tests? I am quite happy with the 0-60 time but the QM time should be lower (at least in the 12's) for the money the car costs..

Any opinions? I noticed Road and Track did 12.8 but that was with a 5k clutch drop..

__________________

No comparison in my opinion.....The RS4 is a monster coming out of corners, feels more composed and is just a better looking vehicle comapred to the M5 (My neighbor has one - he drove mine and i drove his). We had a little BS session afterwards and compared the two cars. Our final thoughts......RS4 more precise and quicker in the twisties and The M5 a little hotter off the line and it's nice to slide the car out of corners. Though he did admit that my car looked more menacing. The RS4 was a no brainer for me as I live in Denver and the quattro is great(with m&s tires). I have to admit that the M5 is a great car as well.

If you are considering taking the car to the track I don't think there is going to be much comparison as to what's more fun to toss around... the RS4 is going to be WAY more fun to drive on a track. Sure the M5 may be faster in a qm test but who cares... the RS4 is going to catch it going into the corner and pass it going out giving the M5 the middle finger as you go flying by...

I don't understand why anybody would even consider a rear-wheel-drive sport-car since there is quattro.
The point of the RS4 is not simple pure performance but the advantage of the quattro system in driving turns and in driving on wet or snowy pavement.
A all-wheel-drive car can drive turns faster than a 2-wheel-drive car.
I did not get the wheels to spin yet even on wet pavement.
And I'm not driving calmly.
Audi seems to have put some energy into the differential locks -- they seem to work great.

here's an awesome youtube vid too of the mtm supercharged rs4, incredible, i want one!

If I had the choice, The RS4 all the way . Although if I had that money, Might go to Vegas, 1st roulette table I find put all the money on red and get a 360 spider .

QM is a horse power thing, its all about show. I am happy to lag behind on the straights only to rail through the twisties and carry corner speed that high end sports cars envy. Quattro will create an increased drivetrain loss so getting raw power out of a Quattro car is tough, besides these things are also little Miss Piggy on the scale. The real fun is corner speed and handling, any 16 year old in a Mustang can run 12's for $50,000 less ... is that what you are really after ?

The fit and finish and the creature comforts of the RS4 FAR outweigh the slight loss in straight line speed ... that you will rarely find a place to use anyways !